Slow Life

XI - DINNER WITH HIS FAMILY

XI – DINNER WITH HIS FAMILY

I sighed as I gazed at the big house in front of me.

I've been doing that for ten minutes now and gathering my courage to step out of my truck. So far, it wasn't working. When did I become such a coward? I asked myself.

Finally, I sighed and got out. It would do me no good to sit in here and feel sorry for myself, I decided. I had to gather what 'balls' I had, according to Emmett, and get this over with. I needed to find the spunk I showed when I screamed at Dr. Cullen in the hospital.

Closing my eyes, I took a big breath and knocked on the door. It opened before I could knock on them and Alice was there, watching me with annoyance in her eyes.

"What took you so long?" she asked with a twitch of her eyebrows. I knew that she knew what took me so long. I had a theory, you see. Instead of replying, I rolled my eyes at her and moved past her into the house.

It. Was. Huge!

The whole level was one big white room. It was also very light – the house had huge windows.

"Wow," I whispered as I looked around.

"Esme designed and decorated it," Alice piped up from behind me. I wondered who Esme was.

"Esme is Carlisle's wife and our mum," Alice said before I could form a question. Another point went to my theory. And another question.

"They're waiting for us in the kitchen. Carlisle thought we shouldn't overwhelm you and I volunteered to greet you."

I didn't doubt her. She was a very nice person and well on her way of becoming my friend.

"Thanks," was all I said as I followed her dancing steps around a platform with a grand piano. It reminded me of Edward and his love of music. I wondered if he still played the Piano or if it was someone else in his family that did so.

The kitchen was designed in warm colours and was very modern. At first, I was so concentrated on the design that I failed to notice the people in it. I blushed when I remembered that I wasn't alone in the room.

"You have a beautiful house," I said, trying to recover my dignity which was shot to hell when Emmett Cullen started laughing at me. A beautiful woman with caramel coloured hair shot him a look and he quietened down.

I was the one that chuckled now and the tension in the room dispersed. I was unaware of how tense everyone was until that moment.

"Thank you, miss Swan," Esme said with a warm smile on her face and for some reason she reminded me of Snow White and her seven dwarves. Of course, no one looked like a dwarf, but you get my meaning.

"Call me Bella," I said with a warm smile of my own. "Everyone does."

"We're making Italian for you," she continued and for the first time I noticed Dr. Cullen cutting up onions behind her with an easy grin on his face. He winked at me and I chuckled.

"Thanks! I love Italian," I said, still chuckling at the domestic scene. Then I thought about what she said about making the food for me. Did they not eat? But I already noticed that. I wondered what they did eat then, but figured that I shouldn't bombard them with questions just now.

"Hey, Bella!" Emmett boomed. "Do you know how to play video games?"

I turned my head to him and noticed that Jasper and Rosalie were behind him. Jasper had the usual look of pain on his face and stood a bit further away than the others, while Rosalie had a blank expression on hers. She still didn't like me.

I didn't notice Edward anywhere in the room. I wanted to pout, but decided no to let it bother me too much.

"Do you know how to play them without breaking a controller?" I asked him with a devilish grin. He looked very strong and muscular. I laughed when he pouted at me like a big child. Everyone, even Rosalie, let out a chuckle.

"I can so!" he replied childishly.

"Then bring it!" I cracked my knuckles. Without a word, he quickly ushered me to the living room where a huge plasma television was, and around it every game station that was available. He quickly turned the PS2 on and handed me one of the controllers.

The only reason I knew how to play video games was because I was childhood friends with some boys from the Quileute reservation in La Push – they taught me everything they knew.

And I used every bit of that knowledge in playing against Emmett. I saw that he had no real strategies. He went for the kill. I smirked to myself and nonchalantly pressed one of the buttons. An explosion was seen on the screen and Emmett's side of it read GAME OVER.

The silence after that was a bit uncomfortable – until I saw that the Cullens had followed us out to the living room and were now staring at me. Emmett was staring at me too.

"What?" I asked with a mischievous smirk. "Is it the fact that a girl kicked your ass or is it the fact that said girl knows how to really play video games."

"No," was Jasper's response as he started snickering. "It's just that you're the first one to beat Emmett in his games."

"Oh, well – it wasn't that hard," I snickered back at him. Emmett was still pouting half an hour later as I was finishing my dinner. The Cullens were sat around the oval dining table watching me eat. I thought I saw some of them grimace as they watched me and I wondered why that was.

Once I was finished, I put the napkin down and looked them in their golden eyes.

"Thank you for the wonderful dinner," I said with a small blush on my face. I cleared my throat and continued, "Now, I know you're all extremely curious about what I said to Dr. Cullen on Tuesday."

I saw Jasper nod from the corner of my eye, while Alice said, "Yes, he did tell us about that."

"Okay," I continued. "But I want Edward to be here as well. Because, honestly, I'm becoming rather insulted by his avoidance. Or is there some kind of a problem?"

Esme and Dr. Cullen looked at each other, then at me, and Esme said with a gentle voice, "Of course there's nothing wrong. He's just very confused at the moment."

I nodded and watched as Esme started cleaning up the dishes and Dr. Cullen pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and speed-dialled a number. I suppose that he called Edward.

I offered my help to Esme, but she just smiled and sent me to the living room, where Emmett demanded a rematch, while we waited for Edward to come home.